Council on American-Islamic Relations

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The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is an organization that was created in June 1994; its professed goals are to enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice and empower American Muslims."^[1][2] In its work, the group has been a party to lawsuits,^[3] testified before the United States Congress,^[4] and met with President George W. Bush.^[5]

Supporters of CAIR's mission and functioning consider it to be an important entity in defending the rights of Muslims in the United States. Maya Harris, executive director of the A.C.L.U in California, has described CAIR as "a leading organization that has advocated for civil rights and civil liberties in the face of fear and intolerance, in the face of religious and ethnic profiling,”.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Funding 3 Projects 4 Complaints about media depictions of Muslims 5 Criticism 6 See also 7 References 8 External links 8.1 News articles

[edit] Overview

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., with 35 regional offices and chapters in the U.S. and Canada, CAIR was founded in 1994 by Nihad Awad, Omar Ahmad, and Rafeeq Jaber. Jaber was national president (1994-2005) and chairman of the Islamic Association of Palestine.^[6]

CAIR’s literature describes the group as a "leading advocate for justice and understanding", a mission which includes promoting the understanding of Islam,and protecting Muslim civil liberties. Their stated core principles include supporting freedom of religion, protecting the civil rights of everyone, and encouraging inter-faith dialogue. CAIR believes that "the active practice of Islam strengthens the social and religious fabric of our nation."^[7] The group says that it has intervened on behalf of many American Muslims who claim discrimination, profiling or harassment.^[1]

Controversy has arisen over the size of CAIR's membership. Based on their 2006 annual budget report, the Washington Times estimated that CAIR has less than 1,700 members, and that based on their tax report figures, their membership declined by more than 90% between 2001 and 2007.^[8] CAIR denies this report and attributes the discrepancy in budget and membership to recent free and low-cost membership drives. According to CAIR, some 10,000 people attended CAIR fundraising events in 2007 alone. Also, the number of chapters has increased from 8 to 33 since 2001. Tax reports show about two dozen donors are donating $1–2 million total per year.^[9] As of March 2008 the CAIR web site had a 2006 annual report available.^[10]

According to CAIR, the group works in close cooperation with other civic and civil liberties groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, NAACP, Hispanic Unity, Organization of Chinese Americans, Japanese American Citizens League, Sikh Mediawatch, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, and Resource Task Force, among many others.^[1] In 2003, the Ohio chapter of the ACLU gave its annual Liberty Flame Award to the Ohio chapter of CAIR "for contributions to the advancement and protection of civil liberties."^[11]

CAIR also says that it has successfully formed a partnership with the National Council of Churches and held discussions with representatives of the National Association of Evangelicals.^[7]

CAIR has been critical of a number of U.S. criminal prosecutions, arguing, for example in one of many cases, that Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, deemed the ringleader of the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, and convicted of conspiring to blow up the Lincoln Tunnel and other New York City landmarks, did not receive a fair trial.^[12]

In July 2008, CAIR chairman Parvez Ahmed announced his resignation.^[13]

[edit] Funding

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In 1999, the Islamic Development Bank gave a $250,000 grant to CAIR to purchase land for a national headquarters.^[14]

In 2002, the World Association for Muslim Youth (WAMY), a Saudi government-funded organization, financed distributing books on Islam free of charge 2002 and an advertising campaign in American publications. This included a quarter page in USA Today each Friday, for a year, estimated to cost $1.04 million.^[15]

In 2003, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal donated $500,000 to distribute the Qur'an and other books about Islam in the United States.^[16]

In 2006, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance and Industry, financed the building of a property in the US to serve as an endowment for the organization.^[17] This gift is thought to generate income of approximately $3 million a year.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Projects

CAIR states that it promotes a positive image of Islam and Muslims in America through media relations, lobbying, education, and public advocacy. CAIR tries to get its voice represented in the media, and to present its views of issues in current events. Its members often appear on news programs involving Muslims in America and it is an often-cited source for journalists who are seeking input or a quote from Muslim leaders or the Muslim community.^[18] CAIR has also been involved in litigation against critics, such as its defamation lawsuit against Andrew Whitehead, which was dismissed.^[19]

CAIR issues "Action Alerts" to its online subscribers to call attention to "hate crimes" or harsh statements against Islam and Muslims in the media.^[20] Often, it will encourage a letter-writing campaign to ask politicians or editors to condemn hate speech. It also publishes positive reports of interfaith cooperation and examples of businesses that reach out to Muslims, and often asks the subscribers to write letters of gratitude to those leaders and companies.^[21]

CAIR also conducts research on the American Muslim community, releasing annual reports on public opinion and demographic statistics on the Muslim community^[22], as well as annual Civil Rights reports concerning issues like hate crimes, discrimination and profiling.^[23] It also sponsors voter registration drives in communities and outreach and interfaith relations with other religious groups in America.^{[citation needed]}

After 9/11 CAIR created a "library project" which sold packages of educational books and tapes about Islam (over $300 worth per library) for donation to public libraries in the United States. In 2002 Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal donated $500,000 to CAIR to support the program.^[24] The Washington Times noted in 2003 that although CAIR claimed to have sent 37 packets to the Washington D.C. area, the city had received only one.^{[25][dead link]} The libraryproject.org page was last updated in 2005 and the domain became defunct.^{[citation needed]}

In 2004 CAIR launched a "Not In the Name of Islam" petition in order to "disassociate the faith of Islam from the violent acts of a few Muslims." It encouraged Islamic organizations, mosques, and individuals to sign it. The petition repudiated terrorism and any group that committed such acts, citing a portion of the Quran that told believers to stand for justice even if it was against friends or family. ^[26] The petition was posted on CAIR's homepage and garned over 691,591 signatures before being taken down in a sitewide renovation in 2007. ^[27]

In 2005 CAIR coordinated the release of a fatwa (religious pronouncement) that stated in part, “Islam strictly condemns religious extremism and the use of violence against innocent lives. There is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism. Targeting civilians' life and property through suicide bombings or any other method of attack is haram or forbidden - and those who commit these barbaric acts are criminals, not martyrs.”^[28]

In 2005, following retracted media reports of the desecration of the Quran at Camp Delta in the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, as well as negative stereotypes against Islam in the media, CAIR started an "Explore the Quran" campaign, intended to promote understanding of the Quran by distributing complimentary copies to any interested member of the American public.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, during the worldwide Muslim outrage over the publication of cartoons visually depicting Muhammad, CAIR responded by launching an educational program "Explore the Life of Muhammad" aimed at providing free copies of a DVD or book about the life of the Muhammad to any person who requests it. Over 16,000 requests were received as of September 2006.^{[citation needed]}

In June 2006, CAIR announced a $50 million project to influence the American media ($10 million per year for five years). According to the article, the project will be spearheaded by Paul Findley, a former US Congressman. Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was going to be contacted to help fund the project.^[29]

[edit] Complaints about media depictions of Muslims

CAIR has criticized several recent films and television shows featuring Muslim terrorists. For instance, it lobbied against the film The Sum of All Fears in a campaign lasting two years, during which time CAIR was in contact with Paramount Pictures and Mace Neufeld.^[30] The campaign was ultimately successful and the Islamist terrorists which had featured in the original book were replaced with neo-Nazis in the film version.[2]

CAIR also issued a complaint on September 29, 2005, following an ad for the Bell/Boeing CV-22 aircraft which portrayed soldiers storming a mosque.^[31] The following day, Boeing sent a formal apology to CAIR, and Bell and the National Journal contacted CAIR to express their regret.^[32]

On January 26, 2006, CAIR issued a complaint following a segment on Los Angeles radio program The Bill Handel Show which allegedly mocked the deaths of Muslims in a recent Hajj stampede.^[33] CAIR had been monitoring the program for "anti-Muslim material" and had previously filed complaints over another inflammatory incident in 2004, which resulted in a formal apology issued on-air by the station (KFI).^[34]

[edit] Criticism

Critics have accused CAIR of having ties to terrorist organizations, and of pursuing a radical Islamist agenda.^[16][35][36]

• Daniel Pipes has alleged that CAIR attempts to suppress criticism of Islamic terrorism and intolerance through accusations of racism and anti-Muslim bias, and that the group engages in deliberate deception in its claims to be a civil rights group.^[37]

• Steven Emerson has claimed that CAIR was founded with funding from the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, an alleged "Hamas group".^[35][38][39]

• The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has argued that CAIR’s credibility as a community relations agency promoting “justice and mutual understanding” is tainted because it is a spin-off of the Islamic Association for Palestine.^[40]

• In his Boston Globe column Jeff Jacoby called CAIR an "Islamist group" and claimed that CAIR Chairman Emeritus Omar Ahmad wishes Islam to "be dominant" in America.^[41]

• An Investor's Business Daily editorial called CAIR "the PR machine of militant Islam" claiming that the organization purposefully sent "henchmen" to disrupt the first Secular Islam Summit.^{[citation needed]}

CAIR disputes these assertions,^[42] and according to The New York Times, several U.S. government officials "described the standards used by critics to link CAIR to terrorism as akin to McCarthyism, essentially guilt by association."^[16] CAIR has also responded to criticism by stating that "the statements and agendas of our detractors will show that they represent the extremes in our society."^[42] CAIR also states on its website that an FBI agent said "false claims originate from one or two biased sources," and that a senior FBI official said CAIR will just have to live with them. The sources, according to CAIR, are primarily organizations such as Jihad Watch.^[42]

[edit] See also

• Muslim Public Affairs Council
• American Muslim Council
• American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
• Arab American Institute
• Islamic Information Center (IIC)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Council of American-Islamic Relations official site
  • CAIR Press Releases
• Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) official site

[edit] News articles

• Hassan, Javid. "Media Campaign in US to Dispel Islamophobia", Arab News, June 21, 2006